www.everyonedeservesgreatdesign.com We live in a new age where globalization & capitalism must harmonize with social good. A new mindset for product designers by Ehsan Noursalehi

1. EVERYONE
DESERVES
GREAT
DESIGN
A new mindset for product designers
by Ehsan Noursalehi
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

2. We live in a new age where
globalization & capitalism must
harmonize with social good.
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

3. HUMANITARIAN
IT IS TIME TO PUT AN END TO
USELESS PRODUCTS DESIGNED
FOR PEOPLE IN CRUMMY
SITUATIONS.
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

4. CAPITALIST
SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES LIKE
GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK ARE
RELYING ON “POOR” USERS
AS SIGNIFICANT SOURCES OF
REVENUE.
SOURCE: “Facebook’s big problem is that it can’t
measure ads in the places it’s growing fastest” -Quartz
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

5. Google & Facebook’s global products
treat humans as humans - people as
people with needs and desires.
They are (by accident) breaking down traditional
economic, social, cultural, and geographic barriers
of discrimination in product design.
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

6. EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014
CONTENTS
1. Why Do Useless Products Exist?
2. How to Prevent Useless Products
3. The World is Getting Better
4. Create Great Designs for Everyone

7. 1.
Why Do Useless
Products Exist?
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

8. PLAYPUMP
GOOD
INTENTION
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9. PLAYPUMP
SAD
REALITY
SOURCE: “Objects in Development”
-Ralph Borland
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10. FREE
WHEELCHAIR
MISSION
EXAMPLES OF BAD SOCIAL DESIGN
SOCCKET
BALL
LN-4
PROSTHETIC
ARM
SOURCE: “Ball Generates Electricity for Poor
Kids... Until it breaks” -TinySpark
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

11. FOR PROFIT vs. NONPROFIT
COMPANY
MONEY
PRODUCT
CUSTOMER DONOR COMPANY
PRODUCT
MONEY
CUSTOMER
WHY ARE USELESS PRODUCTS WIDESPREAD?
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

12. 2.
How to prevent
useless products
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13. “Great design satisfies both
our needs and our desires”
Tim Brown, IDEO
SOURCE: “Big Idea 2013: Designing
the Necessities of Life” -Tim Brown
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

14. DEVELOPING WORLD
CONSTRAINTS
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014
GREAT DESIGN
FOR EVERYONE FIRST WORLD
DESIRES
SIMULTANEOUSLY EMBRACING CONSTRAINTS & DESIRES

15. POLYPROPYLENE
MONOBLOC
CHAIR
EXAMPLES OF GREAT DESIGN FOR EVERYONE
BIC CRISTAL
BALL POINT
PEN
CASIO F-91W
WRIST WATCH
SOURCE: “Plastic: A Toxic Love
Story” -Susan Freinkel
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

16. EQUITABLE
GLOBALIZATION
OF GANGNAM
STYLE SOURCE: “The Genius Behind
Gangnam Style” -Andrew Lam
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

17. 3.
The world is
getting better
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

18. “By almost any measure, the world is better than it
has ever been. People are living longer, healthier lives.
Many nations that were aid recipients are now self-sufficient.
You might think that such striking progress
would be widely celebrated, but in fact, Melinda and
I are struck by how many people think the world is
getting worse. The belief that the world can’t solve
extreme poverty and disease isn’t just mistaken. It is
harmful.”
— Bill Gates, Gates Letter 2014
SOURCE: “2014 Gates Annual
Letter” -Bill & Melinda Gates
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

19. THE WORLD WE LIVE
IN IS RADICALLY
DIFFERENT FROM
THE WORLD MOST
OF US IMAGINE
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SOURCE: “200 Countries, 200
Years” -Hans Rosling

20. APPLE WAS
RECENTLY
PENALIZED BY
THE STOCK
MARKET SOURCE: “iPhone 5c not cheap
enough for emerging APAC
markets” -ZDnet
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

21. GE IS FORCED
TO DISRUPT
ITSELF
SOURCE: “How GE Is Disrupting
Itself” -Harvard Business Review
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22. 4.
Create great
designs for
everyone
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

23. THE GREAT DESIGNER’S CREED
WE ARE ALL
HUMAN
Do not focus on poverty, focus on commonalities
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

24. TOP 10%
BOTTOM 90%
DESIRE
EXCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVE
MUTUALLY
INCLUSIVE
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25. TOP 10%
AFFORD
MUTUALLY
INCLUSIVE
BOTTOM 90%
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26. ONE WORLD
INDESTRUCTIBLE
SOCCER BALL
NEW EXAMPLES OF GREAT DESIGN FOR EVERYONE
GIRADORA
PEDAL POWERED
WASHING MACHINE
LIFESTRAW
PERSONAL
WATER FILTER
SOURCE: “How A Foot-Powered
Washing Machine Could Change
Millions of Lives” -FastCo
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014

27. EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014
1. SIMULTANEOUSLY EMBRACE
DESIRES & CONSTRAINTS
2. MINIMIZE RESOURCE
INEFFICIENCIES
3. OPTIMIZE VALUE
4. DIGNIFY EVERYONE
4 Principles
of Great
Design for
Everyone

28. START
90%
TOP 10%
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014
DESIGN PROCESS
BOTTOM
END

29. MINDSET + DISCOVER PROBLEM,
NEED, OR PRODUCT
OPPORTUNITY
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014
APPLY 4 PRINCIPLES
OF GREAT DESIGN
FOR EVERYONE
TEST THE
DESIGN
EXECUTE
THE DESIGN

30. TOP 10% BOTTOM 90%
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014
vs.

31. VALUE
PERFORMANCE
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014
FUNCTIONAL + EMOTIONAL + SOCIAL (VALUE)
INVESTMENT + MAINTENANCE (COST) =

32. EVERYONE
DESERVES
GREAT
DESIGN
A new mindset for product designers
by Ehsan Noursalehi
EHSAN NOURSALEHI MFA ID CANDIDATE 2014